Lady Yellowjackets Dominate Rocky in 3-0 Shutout (Sept. 20, 2003)

BILLINGS, MT – The MSU Billings women’s soccer team controlled the game for 90 minutes Saturday afternoon as the Lady Jackets defeated Rocky Mountain College 3-0 at Rocky.  The win stopped a four-game losing streak to Rocky dating back to the 2001 season.  The Yellowjackets, who last defeated the Bears on October 24, 2000, take a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series.  MSUB is 3-3-1 for the season while RMC drops to 4-5.

Margot Merrill-Johnson (Jr., Salt Lake City) took a cross from Candy Cherry (Jr., Missoula, MT) in just the third minute and beat Rocky’s Janna Reiman to the high side of the net for the only goal MSUB would need Saturday.  It was Merrill-Johnson’s team-high fourth goal of the season and Cherry’s second assist. 

“It feels really good,” said Merrill-Johnson after her first career win against the cross-town rival.  “You don’t realize how big a rivalry is until you get on the field.  It’s a nice game to play in because you know you’re going to have people there because it’s in town.  In a rivalry game, anyone can win.  It’s usually the one who fights the hardest.”

Sara Otis (Sr., Vancouver, WA) scored the Jackets’ second goal in the 13^th minute after dribbling past a pair of Rocky defenders in the box.  The goal was the first of the season for Otis, who is second on the team in shots and shots-on-goal.  Ally Taylor (Fr., Ojai, CA) finished the scoring in the 26^th minute after Otis crossed to Kelsey Vinnedge (Fr., Great Falls, MT), who found Taylor at the top of the box for the shot.  It was Taylor’s third goal of the year.

“Today’s game was a great team effort in the fact that we used every player,” said head coach Don Trentham.  “They all played an important role for us.  After the Seattle Pacific game on Monday, I challenged the character of this team.  I wanted to see how we would come out and play after that.  To challenge a team’s character and have them come out and score in the first four minutes, that says a lot about our players and their preparation this week.”

Megan Plank (Fr., Phoenix, AZ) made three first half saves to keep the Bears scoreless at the break.  She lowered her team-leading goals-against average to 0.47, with just two goals allowed in 379 minutes of play.  Alyssa Wolfer (Fr., Longmont, CO) was in goal in the second half, making a sliding save on a Rocky breakaway to preserve the shutout.  The Yellowjackets played the final 28 minutes short a player because Stephanie Clark (Jr., Tualatin, OR) received a red card.  Clark will also miss the next game.

“Our team worked really well together today,” said Merrill-Johnson.  “We concentrated on the things we worked on in practice.  We saw today as a turning point in the season, giving us confidence in our play.  We have players who, if they have confidence, can step up and beat some of the top teams we’ll face.”

The Yellowjackets will have three such tests starting Wednesday.  In the span of six days, MSUB will face three teams ranked in the Far West Region’s top ten.  They will play at Chico State (9^th) on Wednesday, at Sonoma State (8^th) on Friday, and at San Francisco State (4^th) on Sunday.

“We beat a good team today pretty convincingly,” said Trentham.  “I would like to see our play carry into the tough 3-game road trip that we start on Wednesday.”